Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Warrior Met Coal, Inc. (NYSE:HCC) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,620,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 4,370,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 772,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days. Currently, 9.0% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on HCC. B. Riley cut their target price on Warrior Met Coal from $92.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 6th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Warrior Met Coal in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $72.60.

Warrior Met Coal Stock Performance

HCC stock traded down $0.97 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $52.43. The company had a trading volume of 619,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 771,068. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $61.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $63.02. The company has a quick ratio of 5.37, a current ratio of 6.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $2.74 billion, a PE ratio of 6.34 and a beta of 1.02. Warrior Met Coal has a 1-year low of $44.60 and a 1-year high of $75.53.

Warrior Met Coal (NYSE:HCC) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported $1.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.03. Warrior Met Coal had a return on equity of 22.71% and a net margin of 25.01%. The business had revenue of $396.52 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $387.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Warrior Met Coal will post 5.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Warrior Met Coal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 6th were paid a $0.08 dividend. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.61%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 6th. Warrior Met Coal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 3.85%.

Insider Activity at Warrior Met Coal

In other Warrior Met Coal news, CEO Walter J. Scheller sold 23,148 shares of Warrior Met Coal stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $1,739,572.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 340,485 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,587,447.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Kelli K. Gant sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.06, for a total value of $750,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 61,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,629,550.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Walter J. Scheller sold 23,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $1,739,572.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 340,485 shares in the company, valued at $25,587,447.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Warrior Met Coal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Warrior Met Coal in the second quarter valued at about $589,000. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Warrior Met Coal by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Graham Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 46,474 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,917,000 after buying an additional 901 shares during the period. Creative Planning grew its holdings in Warrior Met Coal by 19.2% during the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 20,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,278,000 after acquiring an additional 3,284 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC raised its position in Warrior Met Coal by 59.0% in the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 38,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,433,000 after acquiring an additional 14,384 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in Warrior Met Coal in the second quarter valued at $270,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 92.28% of the company’s stock.

Warrior Met Coal Company Profile

Warrior Met Coal, Inc produces and exports non-thermal metallurgical coal for the steel industry. It operates two underground mines located in Alabama. The company sells its metallurgical coal to a customer base of blast furnace steel producers located primarily in Europe, South America, and Asia. It also sells natural gas, which is extracted as a byproduct from coal production.